Spent Grain - Bread

[Randar]

Nice! Looks tasty indeed. It doesn't keep like store-bought bread, so eat up!

 

[Golddiggie]

I plan on sharing some with family (this weekend)... Need to find room in the fridge for the loaves now...

How well would the uncooked dough freeze? Thinking that with the next batch, I'll freeze half the uncooked dough so that I can bake it another day...

 

[GetLooseontheGoose]

Oh this is awesome...who knew i would be baking some whole grain bread.

BTW thanks for the info on saving grains in the freezer!

 

[Randar]

I wouldn't freeze the dough. Same reason you don't want to freeze yeast. You won't get it to re-rise easily/readily.

The bread itself freezes quite well though. Just wrap it tightly in aluminum foil. It lasts weeks if not a couple months this way.

 

[ChshreCat]

Actually, you can freezer bread dough.
http://breadbaking.about.com/od/beginnerbasics/ht/freezedough.htm

 

[Randar]

My Basic Recipe:

- 3 Cups spent grain (still wet or thawed)
- 1 cup warm water (a little more if using frozen grains)
- 1 Tbsp dry baker's yeast (proofed according to package directions w/ 1/4 cup water and sugar)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (or cut the brown sugar in half and use 2-4 tbsp honey)
- ~5 cups bread flour (I do this by feel as I mix, I never measure)
- tbsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp Vital Wheat Glutens (adds chewiness and lift)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees for rustic loaves, 425-450 for sandwich loaves or baguettes, and to 400 for buns/rolls (higher pre-heat temp caused thicker crust)

Blend grains and water in blender or food processor until completely pulverized and there are no recognizable husks.

Mix all ingredients except white flour in stand mixer with dough hook. Add bread flour while mixing until dough is proper consistency (glutens have formed and dough is elastic).

Remove dough and place in greased bowl until it has doubled (or 1.5x original). If making rustic or fluffier breads I will not punch down. Sandwich and buns will get punched down lightly. Split into loaves or buns and let second rise occur "in place" (on baking sheet or similar). When loaves have doubled again or reached desired size, place in oven and drop temp to 400 degrees.

Bake until done (toothpick inserted in center pulls out clean).

Now, this is just my basic recipe and I modify it accordingly to what I am trying to do. Reduce sugars to honey only and add herbs/garlic/EVOO for a savory loaf. I have added powdered milk for texture flavor and this works nicely as well. Have tried flax or sunflower seeds, oats, other similar grains, cornmeal, Tusing 1/3 cup honey and no brown sugar, etc. They've all turned out well.

Infinite options and possibilities really. The rolls/buns are great for bringing to potlucks or dinner parties.

 

[Randar]

Actually, you can freezer bread dough.
http://breadbaking.about.com/od/beginnerbasics/ht/freezedough.htm

I stand corrected. Now that I think about it I have seen those frozen "bake at home" loaves in the store and they do rise, so why wouldn't it work? I will have to give it a go sometime. Thanks for the link!

 

[Golddiggie]

Actually, you can freezer bread dough.
http://breadbaking.about.com/od/beginnerbasics/ht/freezedough.htm

I like the first step on that page...

Double the yeast. Use only active dry yeast - not fast-acting yeast. Mix bread according to the recipe’s instructions but double the yeast amount. This is to compensate for the yeast that will die off in the freezing process.

Since I used normal bread yeast in my first batch, and have two packets left, I could do this for a good amount of the next batch I'll make. I also plan on freezing some of what I made, from the first batch (already baked) so that I can have it later... I'm trying to use/eat/give away a decent amount, since it's just me here.

I'm thinking that I might use a little of my honey porter in the next batch of bread...

 

[johngaltsmotor]

I made some today with some of the grains from a schwarzbier brew yesterday. I've never had much luck with whole grain breads rising so I left it a bit wet to make sure it rose. It didn't have much natural body so the loaf spread out instead of rising up - looks like a dark ciabatta.
WOW is it tasty. I know I should savor or share it, but I have a feeling it's not going to last that long. I dried the rest of the grains in the oven afterwards to make them easier to save for future batches. I have a feeling they'll get used fairly quickly though.
Brewing could turn into a 2-day affair - brew beer Saturday, bake bread Sunday.

 

[Golddiggie]

I'm brewing again tomorrow (Monday)... I'm planning on saving some of the wort (not sure if I should use the hopped or reserve it before adding the hops) to use for both the yeast starter, and add some more sweetness to the bread.

I'm also planning on making some dog treats with some of the rest of the spent grain. I would save some of the grains in the freezer, but I'm brewing about every week or two... When I get to a bit longer between brewings, I might freeze some of the grain for using later (for bread and such)...

I think it's great that we can brew with the grains, then still have other things we can do with them, other than tossing or composting.

I am thinking of freezing some of the dough I make this week. That way I can simply pull it from the freezer (a day or so ahead) and bake it up fresh as I wish.

 

[Golddiggie]

Since we're snowed in today, I'm making another batch of bread... Going to freeze some of the dough to be baked later...

Also making the dog treats with some of the spent grain... Those are drying out now, in the oven... I went with the original recipe (from the other site) which worked really well...

 

[Randar]

Let me know how the frozen dough works for you when you get around to using it. I usually end up making a couple loaves and some goes bad before I get to it. I would love to be able to stop buying store bought sandwich bread altogether.

 

[Golddiggie]

Randar,

I'm planning on making one medium size loaf of bread to eat for the next 5-7 days... I'm thinking that I'll make another loaf (for freezing) that's about the same size (probably 1/3 of the dough batch)... I'm also looking to make dinner roll sized 'balls' so that I can pull what I want to bake the day/evening before, put them into the fridge, and have them with dinner the following evening. Could be something really good to do.

I'll post up how this works out... Should know within about a week, or so... I would keep in mind that they say to only freeze dough for ~4 weeks...

 

[Randar]

I'm also looking to make dinner roll sized 'balls' so that I can pull what I want to bake the day/evening before, put them into the fridge, and have them with dinner the following evening. Could be something really good to do.

Man, that would be perfect. Make roll or bun sized portions and then bake any time... Definitely interested in how that turns out!

 

[Golddiggie]

Man, that would be perfect. Make roll or bun sized portions and then bake any time... Definitely interested in how that turns out!

Got the smaller dough balls in the freezer (been in there for a few hours now)... I'll be able to put them into a bag tomorrow (individually wrapped of course)...

When I made this batch I sliced the grains in the food processor a lot more than with the first batch I made. I wanted to make the pieces as small as possible, so that they would be more evenly distributed through the bread. Plus, less chance of someone getting a grain hull in their teeth. I ended up using 3 cups of spent grain post-food processor in this batch (was 4-5 cups before spinning).

With the extra yeast added, I went with a little more wort for it's starter. I actually used some reserved wort (before adding hops this time, I have some with hops reserved too). I also added a few ounces of honey to the yeast starter. I also upped the butter a few notches. I thought I was doubling it, but I went a bit beyond that. I forgot how much one stick of butter actually was ... I got it really soft and just added the entire stick to the recipe. I'm hoping the flavor of this bread is more than the first one. While that was good, it was really, really light.

With the extra liquids, and such, I did end up using about 1-1/2 cups of flour more this time. I still put the flour through a strainer to help sift it.

I will say that I either baked the first batch too long (only about 40 minutes that time) or this recipe is just better all around. These loaves are software, with actual 'spring' to the loaves. Maybe it was the double punch-down that I did on the first batch that caused the other batch being so dense. I ended up baking the one more sandwich loaf shaped for about 25 minutes (still at 375F) where the round loaf ended up taking about 30 minutes...

Tomorrow is taste testing on this batch... I'll also post up some pictures of the dough before letting it rise, as well as the baked loaves and the ones I'm freezing.

 

[Golddiggie]

Got pictures of the latest batch...

Dough before letting it rise:

Money shot of one of the two loaves I baked last night:

Half a slice of bread from the same loaf:

The frozen dough balls before wrapping them up for longer freezing (up to ~4 weeks):

This batch came out much better than the first one. I think it's a combination of several factors. The longer spin in the food processor for the grains means they got cut up a lot more. The larger dose of butter probably didn't hurt things. The double yeast, while intended to help the bread survive freezing, probably also enhanced what was baked last night. Then there's using the unhopped wort (plus about 3 ounces of honey) for the yeast starter. I still only used the 1-1/2 tsp of salt in the dough, for yeast 'control'... I also only let it rise once, before punching it down, pulling off the two loaves for baking last night, plus rolling up the dough for freezing.

For the frozen dough, I used a combination of freezing paper and aluminum foil to wrap each one. The freezing paper should make it easier to get the paper off of the dough once it's thawed, and the aluminum foil should add another layer of protection. Next time, I think I'll make smaller balls for freezing, so that they're more individual sized. These might come out as being more sized for two... Or one hungry person.

I expect to bake one of the frozen dough balls in about a week. Sooner, depending on how long what I have out lasts... With how this batch tastes, and the texture, I don't think it will last all that long... Given a light toasting, and a little bit of butter spread on it, it's really F'ing good. :rockin:

I do think that I'll use more honey in the next batch though. Depending on what beer style the grains come from. It could be a mocha stout that's in the planning stages. I think that would be really good as a sweeter bread.

 

[r2eng]

Wow, made a double-batch today after a Vienna Lager brewday.

Excellent, thanks!!

 

[mack25]

I was sick of the snow yesterday, so I decided to dig out the smoker and smoke up a pork shoulder. Since I had 12 hours or so to kill, I figured I'd try my hand at spent grain bread. Made little buns using grains from a brown ale and homebrew Octoberfest in place of the water in the recipe (hey, that keg needs to get kicked, right?) A little egg wash and kosher salt on top.

The end result, with homemade wiskey-maple BBQ sauce and SWMBO's killer cole slaw.

And a *can* of beer. Canned beer required when eating BBQ, right? Thank God good beer now comes in cans.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

out of curiosity how long did you have to let them rise?

I've made this twice now and both times 2 hours for the 2nd rise made a nice dense, chewy bread but I would think it would take quite a bit longer to get something usable as a bun. Don't get me wrong, it's great stuff, just mine seems better suited to 1/4" thick slices for a sandwich, anything thicker and the bread is a meal in itself.

Along that line though, maybe I should just make bread bowls for venison chili, I doubt they would absorb enough to get soggy. And just like BBQ, chili requires a nice hearty beer to wash it down...

 

[mack25]

A good 3 hours, give or take, while I was tending the smoker (so it may have been even longer). And bread recipes seem to always say to punch it down and let it rise again - I didn't do that. Figured the more co2 produced, the better. It's still denser than a normal bun, but it worked out well. Took longer to cook than I expected too.

One thing I did which I think made a difference, was took all of the wet ingredients
(beer, spent grain, oil, butter) and puree'd in the blender until nice and smooth, instead of just throwing them into the mixer independently with the flour.

 

[mack25]

and good idea on the bread bowl for chili - gonna have to remember that

 

[Sheldon]

Would using whole wheat flour and whole wheat yeast have any impact or change the results.

Thanks,

sheldon

 

[jtkratzer]

I can't believe how much bread you can get out of just a small amount of grain. My wife made 4 loaves and still has a decent amount of grain left from just 1 lb of 2 row and 1/2 lb each of flaked oats and flaked wheat.

We're going to use as much of the grain as we can and freeze the bread or dough and/or give bread away.

It's delicious bread, but more than we can eat.

I was looking at some basic ways to do mini mash and all grain and I can't imagine what we'd do with 10-12 lbs of grain.

 

[azscoob]

I am enjoying a few slices while at work, this is such a great multipurpose bread, it goes great with a sandwich, or toasted with a bit of local honey on it for breakfast, accompanying a bowl of chili or chowder...

 

[ChshreCat]

I only save a bit of the grain from each batch of beer, but we have about 10 loaves worth in the freezer. SWMBO is gonna do some baking tomorrow, on her day off. I usually take some of the grain at the end of brew day and use the Foodsaver to vacuum seal it in little packs, each one with the right amount of grains for one batch of bread, then freeze them.

 

[azscoob]

I only save a bit of the grain from each batch of beer, but we have about 10 loaves worth in the freezer. SWMBO is gonna do some baking tomorrow, on her day off. I usually take some of the grain at the end of brew day and use the Foodsaver to vacuum seal it in little packs, each one with the right amount of grains for one batch of bread, then freeze them.

I need to start doing that, not the having your SWMBO bake me bread part, the vacuum sealing it in premeasured amounts, I will have my SWMBO bake for me so yours can concentrate on baking for you.

 

[GetLooseontheGoose]

So I finally baked some bread. It was good, but I found I had to add a little more flour to the op's receipt. The other thing for me is waiting a little longer for the yeast to really take hold. I think I was a bit premature on that aspect. I only waited about 3hrs for it to rise.

As far as grains go I have saved mine in the freezer until ready to bake some.

 

[ChshreCat]

SWMBO has a couple loaves of this just about ready to go into the oven. Finding this is an all-day project when we bake this!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I made spent grain bread for the first time out of grain from a milk stout and the OP's recipe. Really easy and delicious. I hate baking but I found that to be a really simple process. My fiance has a weakness for bread so I guess I'll be making bread out of every brew now.

I stored the grains in a ziploc bag in the fridge overnight and made the bread the next day and had no problem with it not baking all the way through on a cookie sheet in the oven. For people having problems with the bread not baking through that may be a remedy.

 

[Madinaman]

Used some of my hop salt that I just made with some spent grain in the freezer, I save it all and bake often, and it came our wonderful. The hops are more in the aroma of the bread, but its great.